Exodus 12:12: ¹² I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.

Prayer Focus: Thanks be to God??? It is difficult to discern good news from such a violent piece of scripture, especially as wars rage around the world and innocent people are caught in the crosshairs of devastating violence. When faced with texts like these, often called “texts of terror” because of the violence they portray, I find solace in this quote from Robert P. Carroll: “If reading the Bible does not raise profound problems for you as a modern reader, then check with your doctor and inquire about the symptoms of brain-death.”

The reality is that the Bible does not give us the answers to many things for which we would really like an explanation. This text is just one of countless examples. I won’t attempt to sugarcoat, whitewash, or tie the problems of this story up in a nice little bow. Rather, my prayer today is that the Holy Spirit might help us to approach this word from God to us today with humility, charity, and patience.  As my New Testament professor, Frances Taylor Gench, reminded us often: it is in the process of wrestling with scripture that we enter into deeper relationship with God. Scripture is holy and sacred because God continues to meet us in it and speak to us through it. As you wrestle with this heartbreaking story today, what do you discern to be the larger, most fundamental truth of this story? Perhaps for you, it is God’s shocking liberation of the once powerless Israelites? Or the power of God over and above the tyrannical powers of empire? Or the scandalous grace of God who promised to be God for Israel and never once broke that promise? Wherever your wrestling with this text leads you today, I pray that it may bring you into deeper relationship with God.